"To complete my journey in Turin with the Champions League in my pocket would be the culmination of a dream.

"I will go on [playing] as long as I have the same great desire to train every day."

Juve have struggled to convert their dominance of Serie A into Champions League form during recent seasons and will be underdogs this week against the holders.

"We have matured a lot in recent years, the international experience has served the team well," Pirlo, a two-time winner of the competition while at Milan, added.

"In the three seasons with [former coach Antonio] Conte we were still missing something, maybe we were not ready, and this year we have grown, along the way, the awareness that we can have our say everywhere.

"We play good football, without fear or awe. Real Madrid are the biggest club in the world, the most prestigious, but we have a 50 per cent chance of going through."